LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina Earn National Recognition for Quality Respiratory Care

May 17, 2010

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C., May 17 /PRNewswire/ — LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina has earned the Quality Respiratory Care Recognition (QRCR) from a national program that helps patients and families make informed decisions regarding the quality of respiratory care services provided by hospitals. About 700 hospitals, or approximately 15% of hospitals in the United States, have applied for and received this award.

The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) began the recognition program in 2003 in an effort to help consumers identify those facilities using qualified respiratory therapists and industry best practices to provide respiratory care. To earn the QRCR designation, hospitals must adhere to strict safety and quality standards, including:

All respiratory therapists employed by the hospital to deliver bedside respiratory care services are required to hold the certified respiratory therapist or registered respiratory therapist credential.

Respiratory therapists are available 24 hours a day.

A doctor of medicine or osteopathy is designated as medical director of respiratory care services.

Respiratory therapists are specially trained healthcare professionals who work under physicians’ orders to provide a wide range of breathing treatments and other services to people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, AIDS and other lung or lung-related conditions.

Located at 1051 Noell Lane in Rocky Mount, NC, LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina is a 50-bed, specialty acute care hospital with a medical staff of more than 35 physicians who provide 24-hour coverage on nights, weekends and holidays.

LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina specializes in the treatment of medically complex patients who require extended hospitalization. Many of patients are transferred to LifeCare after a stay in an intensive care unit and have often experienced multiple system failures and slow response to traditional medical treatments.

LifeCare Hospitals of North Carolina is part of the LifeCare family of hospitals. The LifeCare Hospitals network includes 19 specialty acute care hospitals in nine states. To learn more about our facilities, visit us on the Web at www.lifecare-hospitals.com.